Top Nationals Storylines To Follow Through the Last Month

In the last 14 days, Wood has appeared in 12 games and is hitting .267 with an .811 OPS. It seems that the turnaround could already be upon us.

What’s Up With Dylan Crews?

The long-term outfield in D.C. should consist of Wood and Dylan Crews holding down two of the three spots on the grass. Wood’s been the prize-winning horse so far, but Crews can – and eventually should – be right there with him in terms of straight star power.

To kick off his career, Crews has a 79 wRC+ through 98 MLB games. He’s battled through injuries this year, missing time from the end of May to the middle of August with a left oblique strain, and the numbers just haven’t been there, even when he’s healthy.

All told, the 23-year-old is hitting .208 with eight home runs, 23 RBI, and a 79 wRC+ at the game’s highest level this season. It’s going to be important for Nationals fans to remember just how incredible this player was in college and then coming up through the MiLB ranks. You don’t get selected second-overall in the MLB Draft by accident. Crews is teeming with talent, but the adjustment to big league pitchers has taken him much longer than it does others. Sometimes, that’s just how it goes.

In Wood’s case, it’s a matter of finding his footing and getting back to the star-caliber player he was in the first half of 2025. For Crews, it’s a matter of discovering what it is to be successful at the big league level. Both players are on slightly different trajectories, but their progress (or lack of progress…) will be worth following through the final month of the season nonetheless.

Who the Heck Is This Daylen Lile Guy?!

The vast majority of the Nationals’ season so far has revolved around other players on the team, but this Daylen Lile kid deserves some love, too.

Lile, 22, was selected by the Nationals in the second round of the 2021 draft. He missed the following year after undergoing Tommy John surgery and gradually worked his way up through the Nationals’ system before debuting in the big leagues this season. It’s been just over a year since they were last updated, but Lile ranked as Just Baseball’s No. 9 Nationals prospect in August of last season.

Prior to his promotion to the big leagues, Lile hit .328 with an .880 OPS in 47 games split between Double- and Triple-A. Since coming up in May, he’s been consistently proving to the club’s decision makers that he’s deserving of more playing time. Since June, he’s posted ever-improving wRC+’s and topped out at 117 through 22 games in August.

Lile isn’t much of a power hitter, but he hit .304 in August with six extra-base hits (one home run), 11 runs scored, and eight more driven in. Through eight games in the month of September, he’s hitting .424 with seven extra-base hits, including a whopping four triples already. In just 74 MLB games, he’s up to eight triples!

Say what you will about the triple, but I think it’s one of the more exciting non-home run plays. Lile has come to the game’s highest level and kept his 90th percentile Sprint Speed right at the forefront of his game. He wasn’t exactly an unknown player coming up through the Nationals’ minor league ranks, but he’s made his presence known in a big way so far.

It certainly helps his case that he’s hitting .370 with a pair of home runs and a 1.062 OPS in his last 14 games.

Cade Cavalli’s Post-Surgery Stuff

Cade Cavalli is yet another first-round draft pick (2020) of the Nationals, and is yet another player to keep an eye on through the 2025 season’s final month. The right-hander is already 27 years old but, before August of this year, hadn’t thrown a single pitch in the big leagues since all the way back in August of 2022.

Right shoulder inflammation prematurely ended his 2022 campaign before a Tommy John surgery wiped out his entire 2023 season. Once he returned to a minor league mound in the second half of 2024, he dealt with influenza and eventual dead arm, which combined to end that comeback, too.

Now, Cavalli is back on the mound at the game’s highest level. This in itself is a major victory not only for the Nationals, but for the player himself.

In a total of 17 minor league starts before returning to The Show, Cavalli had a 5.35 ERA across 74 innings, striking out 79 and walking 30. After striking out 25 batters across his final four Triple-A outings (the last two also without any walks allowed), the Nationals promoted Cavalli.

Since his triumphant return to the big leagues commenced, we’ve seen the right-hander make seven starts. To his credit, six of them have been rock-solid. Outside of an ugly outing against the New York Yankees where he went 2.1 innings with 8 runs (7 earned) on 8 hits allowed, things have been great.

In total, Cavalli is 3-1 with a 4.67 ERA through 34.2 innings of work. He’s struck out six or more batters twice, has allowed three runs or less in five of his seven starts, and is clearly getting more comfortable by the start.

It’s easy to forget about a player like Cavalli when he spends multiple years recovering from various injuries. Now, he’s back, and his continued success will be a key part of the final month of the season for Nationals fans to monitor.

Unc’s Still Got It

Even though this is not going to have any impact on next year’s Nationals club, one of the top emerging storylines surrounding this club is just how long Josh Bell can keep his hot streak going.

Bell, 33, is a pure rental, and will once again hit the open market in the coming months. The switch-hitter didn’t end up getting traded at this year’s deadline and, since the deadline passed, has been showing the Nationals his appreciation.

The 10-year veteran has always carried considerable thump in his stick, but he’s catching fire in September and has hit four home runs in his last three games. He’s also driven in 13 runs in that timeframe. It’s a small hot streak, but on a team devoid many feel-good stories, it’s nice to see Bell finishing his second go-round on the Nationals on a high note.

On the season, Bell has 20 home runs with 58 RBI, a .733 OPS and a 105 wRC+ through 124 games. He’s remained durable, has raised his walk-percentage by a few points, and is striking out less than he has in any season dating back to 2022. The oft-traded slugger is still showing signs of life in his bat and should be well on his way to earning another single-year pact on the open market this winter.

2026 Roster Battles

For the Nationals, this month needs to be all about taking stock and finding out which players will best be able to help them improve next year. Sure, they’ve taken a step back in their multi-year rebuild, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to lay down and die.

There are a handful of spots already locked down on next year’s roster, but in the grand scheme of things, there aren’t that many.

The only absolute locks in the starting lineup are Wood, Crews, Abrams, and at the very least Keibert Ruiz. Ruiz is locked up on one of baseball’s worst contracts, and he’s not currently set to hit the open market until at least the conclusion of the 2030 season. This year, he’s got a 65 wRC+ with an fWAR of -1.0 through 68 games played. Not a great look.

Outside of that quartet, the Nationals have a lot of spots that seem to be up for grabs. Garcia is still just 25 years old but he’s got an okay bat with below-average chops at second base. He stands out as an offseason trade candidate.

Hassell and House are two highly-touted prospects in the Nationals system, but neither has gotten off to a great start at the MLB level. Hassell is hitting .227 with a 63 wRC+ in 54 games, while House is hitting .239 with a 56 wRC+. Fortunately for all involved, both of these players were much better offensively in Triple-A, and they’ve got a lot of shine around them as prospects, so the concern level is low.

At this point, these two, along with Lile, are working to secure spots on the 2026 Opening Day roster. Lile’s putting himself in a great position, but the other two are going to need to show some signs of life down the stretch.